This short documentary on Time Videos hits so many facets of car ownership in rural India, that it could easily pass for a commercial if we did not know better. A farmer in rural Haryana is one of the first to own a car, he is able to do so thanks to the easy on the pocket Nano. From explaining his reason for upgrading from a scooter to a car – he could not fit his family of 5, including his mother on the scooter – the video talks of …

The automobile aficionados have long been looking forward to the cheap yet efficient trucks and SUV’s from Mahindra to hit the “western” shores.
The first review look promising for the company.
Overall, ride quality and noise, vibration and harshness is very competitive with current U.S. midsize pickups, if not superior to some. Shocking, we know, but it’s true. This is a truck that could function as a daily driver as well as a workhorse.

Although the reviewer drove a pre-production model, it looks like Mahindra will have a go at the more …

Starting 2010 Tata plans on selling its Electric Indica in Norway.
Autobloggreen reports that the model that was on display at the Detroit Motor Show is already being tested in its new home.
Although the all-electric Tata Indica on display at the SAE World Congress in Detroit this week is not the soon-to-be-released model, there’s a lot we can learn from the vehicle – and from TM4’s Eriz Azeroual – about how the technology will be implemented when the new model goes on sale in Norway either later this year or in …

India may not have made a mark yet in auto Industry like Germany in engineering superiority, or Japan in durability and innovation.  But we do have a new feather in the cap – the world’s cheapest car – that comes with a distinct set of advantages and disadvantages. Tata motors have claimed their fulfillment of a promise to India and to offer a safer alternative (compared to 2-wheelers) when it comes to mode of transport in India and possibly other developing countries where Nano is set for launch in the …

Looks like the recession that is hitting India has led to Spice Energy backing out of the sponsorship of A1 Team India.
Neha Rastogi, the spokesperson for Spice Energy was quoted as saying
Spice Energy is temporarily out of handling operations for A1 Team India given the current economic situation. We will look forward to continue our support to the team.

The news is not all bad. Narain Karthikeyan while confirming that things have changed, confirmed that the drivers are staying put

There is a reshuffle in the management but the team will …

There is news (at this time, I would consider this pure speculation) that Mallya is one one the interested parties, along with a host of other big names, including Pro Drives Richard as possible buyers of the Honda F1 team.
For those who care to remember, Pro Drive wanted to start 2008 buying their chassis from Mercedes, but because of the Customer Car row, they decided to pull out.
Mallya might already be over committed with Force India, but now that he has almost given up control and “sold” the team to …

Earlier in the week, we reported that Force India F1, amongst management changes had also decided to go with a Mercedes drive train for next year. Earlier this year, Mallya said that he was retaining his drivers for 2009, but all that seems to be out the window.
Mallya reiterated at the deal’s announcement that the team does not intend “at present” to change its current line-up of Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and Germany’s Adrian Sutil.
However the billionaire businessman did not rule out the prospect that other candidates might be tested for …

Each week between March and November, a deep schism develops between some of the Über bloggers here as the Formula One circus travels round the world, a direct effect of the omnipresent cold war between the Intelligent World and the *cough* dumb *cough* Tifosi. But when it comes to Vijay Mallya and Team Force India, we always cheer as one for Fisi and Sutil as they fight their way through the ranks.
So it was indeed a pleasant surprise to hear today that Force India is going to tie in with …

A&E, yes its a TV channel, had this reality show called the “King of Cars”, which followed the lives of the salesmen at the dealership.
Given the cost of gas, slow moving automobile stock and did I mention the cost of gas, Hummer is not the choice of people, even in Las Vegas, the city of bling.
But now, they have chosen to look to the other end of the spectrum.

This closing is notable because of where it is taking place and who is pulling the plug. It is, after all, one …

To all those envying the priuses and other hybrids on the road – heave a sigh of relief after reading this article, and you will breath-in cleaner air too, if you follow these tips.
According to an article in TOI,
“At a time when oil is the most precious commodity in our planet, fuel worth Rs 1,000 crore is wasted every year in Delhi by vehicles idling at its 600 traffic signals. If all drivers were to switch off their engines wherever the stoppage time exceeds 14 seconds – which would …

If you are a enthusiast with a keen interest in automobiles and the business in general, like a couple of us Über bloggers are, you will certainly recognize Tesla Motors.
Tesla is an automobile startup that produces high performance automobiles with a difference – their cars are battery-electric hybrids. Their first first production vehicle (lucky customers have started taking deliveries), the Tesla Roadster, is an all-electric sports car capable of a top (governed) speed of 125 mph with a range of 221 miles on a single charge.
The reason that we is …

The ink has not even dried on the papers and the goodwill has started to flow in. Barely a month has gone by after he signed a $2.3 billion deal to buy prestigious, but ailing British car makers Jaguar and Land Rover from their overlords in Detroit, Ratan Tata is already doing his bit for their turnaround.
A few weeks ago, barely days after the deal was signed, UK’s premier car magazine, Autocar, reported that Tata had toured Jaguar and Land Rover’s facilities for a week and come off complimenting …

Close on the heels of Tata acquiring Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford, [UD Post 1, UD Post 2] Edmunds.com is reporting that GM has approached Tata and Mahindra to potentially acquire it’s fuel guzzler, The Hummer. With gas prices on the rise, the sales of Hummers, which give a whopping 9mpg, have plummeted and GM had to shut down four plants manufacturing hummers and other gas guzzling pickup trucks and SUVs. The editor of the Edmunds.com report asks a great question: Why are Indian companies like Tata and Mahindra …

From 23 respondents on the poll on our front page, a whopping 15 drive Japanese cars (ahem, including yours truly). 5 (22%) drive German cars. While unscientific I have a gut feeling this is close to the numbers you normally see in most desi communities in the US. Of course, if you drive an American car and you did not vote, we were unable to count your opinion. But being that most of our readers drive Japanese and German cars, perhaps we could introduce a bi-weekly/monthly car review of the …

In reverse order, and yes, there is a shade of desi’ness to this: [link]
5. Ford Model T
“Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black” – Henry Ford referring to the Ford T.
4. VW Bug
Legend has it that the first shape was drawn by Adolf Hitler.
3. VW Golf
This was a surprise, at least to me.
2. Ford F Series
Perhaps the only vehicle in this list that has reached this figure from exclusively North American sales.
And no 1 is …..
1. Toyota Corolla
Affordable, extremely …

And so it finally goes down… sort of.
Autoblog is reporting (via Autonews.com) that Ford and Tata have put in the finally signed off on a 2.65 billion deal. Finally, Tata gets its hands on Jaguar a once proud brand that has since fallen into bad hands and a inept management, and Land Rover, a iconic brand that has seen a sharp resurgence in the past few years.
One can’t say for sure that Ratan Tata is the knight in shining armor, but hope is certainly the last resort of the damned. …

In the past couple of years Ferrari has sent their 612 Scaglietti across the world. First it was China, then the Americas and finally the 60th anniversary around-the-world relay last year. The latest country on the Prancing Horses map is India and god did we get the ugliest pair of Scagliettis.

The 12-stage event starts and ends in Mumbai, covering 7,000 miles of the subcontinent along the way, kicking off on February 25 and ending on May 8. Like the 612s in China and the 599s in the Americas, the pair …

Ok, that title does not make any sense. But the news is nevertheless huge.
After Tata, now it’s Mahindra. Gawker Media’s automobile blog – Autoblog is now reporting that Mahindra and Mahindra may soon own the Jeep brand.
In order to reach the markets that matter, M&M may be looking to forge an alliance with Chrysler LLC. The Indian firm originally began selling Wranglers in its home market and might be interested in taking Jeep off Cerberus’ hands. A report in the Economic Times says that “M&M is reportedly in talks with …

Last week, I speculated that 2008 could turn out to be India’s solely because of the trendsetting auto industry. It can be argued that these trends are by no means cutting edge technological. Rather, this upswing in newsworthy snippets has solely been caused by some smart economics and business decisions. And curiously one company, Tata has featured in most of these discussions.
It has mostly been about Nano. Tata’s new golf cart like roundabout has created ripples in the world automotive press. Skepticism abounds regarding the car’s emissions, but I consider …

The last couple of months have seen a bunch of India related news snippets in the automotive media. The three major auto blogs that i subscribe to, Autoblog, Jalopnik and The Truth about Cars have all devoted multiple posts to India related subjects recently. While the Nano and the Jaguar/Land Rover sale have gotten the majority of the mileage, a couple of other pieces caught the eye this past week.
First, it has emerged that Chrysler’s electric cars division, Global Electric Motors (GEM) is working with Tata Motors to bring a …